A bit of Make do and Mend

Here's a picture of my little bit of "make do and mend" that I am sharing with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?  This is the "after" and below you will find the "before".  So on my workdesk you can see my old sewing machine which will be 29 years old this Christmas - but its still going strong!  There's also my make-do-and-mend project which is now being used as my knitting bag.  I have made it from last year's broken beach bag.

My grandmother, who passed away just over 20 years ago, looked after me during the school holidays when my mother was at work.  She was the one who instilled a "make do and mend" attitude in me; living through WW2 this came as second nature to her.  She was the one who taught me to sew at a very early age - we made little handkerchiefs from old sheets with little hand stitched scalloped hems and a little embroidered initial in the corner.  Birthday and Christmas cards were always cut up and used as tags or we made little booklets from them by sewing some recycled paper inside.  Materialistically she had very little, although she gave me so much in so many other ways as it is her I have to thank for my love of sewing and crafting. 

Okay, so here's the "before" picture.  One of the rope handles had broke and the eyelet had fallen out causing the fabric to fray.

I chopped of the top of the bag, re-hemmed it and made the cut-off pieces into 2 new handles.  I then cut a denim heart shape (from a pair of my son's outgrown jeans) and added a bit of trim that I bought from a show at the NEC.  I decided not to use the sequins afer I took the photo.  The button was from my nan's "Button Box" - years of salvaged buttons from old clothing "just in case".  I was given the button box when my nan passed away - it was worth nothing to anyone else but bring back lots of memories when I search through it.

So, now I'm feeling good that I've done my little bit for the environment by re-using and re-cycling with my make-do-and-mend.  Also saved a few pounds in the process too - can't be bad!

Thanks for letting me share with WOYWW!

Amanda